Who else has no interest in cycle racing?

[Mad Doug Biker]

I like to watch it for the scenery, I get to see places that I otherwise wouldn't. Simples.

 

[Old Plodder]

Having time on my hands, I will now watch cycling on the telly, if I'm around.
(Wish my fitness would let 'me' ride more.)
I'm not into watching any sports; hate football, cricket, tennis, golf, horse racing, etc, etc, as they are not 'sports', they are only commercial money makers.
I love to watch the scenery from the helicopter cameras to get an idea of the scenery of the country/county/principality.
Not having cycled in Yorkshire myself, I can now see that much of it would be like cycling around the South Downs, with long dragging hills, not so much like riding the North Downs' short sharp hills.

 

[AndyRM]

Cricket is the one to watch if you want to see paint dry. I cant think of another sport so boring to watch.

For the uninitiated, Test cricket can seem boring. Once you understand what is actually happening, it can be a brilliant mix of tactics, psychology and skill. Much like cycling I suppose, on the road at least. Thinking about it, the same is true of any sport.

Except golf, which is accurately described as "a good walk spoiled".

 

[glasgowcyclist]

If I stumble on it on TV I might watch it. I appreciate the spectacle and the athletic feat but I don't understand the tactics or scoring so it's not something I'll seek out.

GC

(edited to add: I'm talking about cycling here, not anything else.)

 

[Ganymede]

For the uninitiated, Test cricket can seem boring. Once you understand what is actually happening, it can be a brilliant mix of tactics, psychology and skill. Much like cycling I suppose, on the road at least. Thinking about it, the same is true of any sport.

Except golf, which is accurately described as "a good walk spoiled".

I think you have to have played cricket to enjoy watching it - the skills are so complex and and the tactics unfold over time. I like cricket but I haven't time to watch it - I always watch the international highlights which squeezes all the "good bits" into an hour but leaves you short on the overview.

 

[AndyRM]

I think you have to have played cricket to enjoy watching it - the skills are so complex and and the tactics unfold over time. I like cricket but I haven't time to watch it - I always watch the international highlights which squeezes all the "good bits" into an hour but leaves you short on the overview.

That's a fair point actually. Test cricket is a hard sell, I've only managed to convert one person to the game in 15 years of trying; this limited overs pish makes it even harder!

 

[Venod]

Having time on my hands, I will now watch cycling on the telly, if I'm around.
(Wish my fitness would let 'me' ride more.)
I'm not into watching any sports; hate football, cricket, tennis, golf, horse racing, etc, etc, as they are not 'sports', they are only commercial money makers.
I love to watch the scenery from the helicopter cameras to get an idea of the scenery of the country/county/principality.
Not having cycled in Yorkshire myself, I can now see that much of it would be like cycling around the South Downs, with long dragging hills, not so much like riding the North Downs' short sharp hills.

You have the right idea about the long drags there are plenty of them, but you have the wrong idea about the short sharp hills, they are equal in number to the drags.

 

[nickyboy]

Standing by a dual carriageway to watch them zip past for a few seconds sounds boring.

But give me a steep sided Yorkshire valley, the crowds pushing in on the riders. The claustrophobia. The shouting, the screaming. The riders sweating and struggling. The feeling of witnessing a battle.

Now that's worth seeing

 

[Old Plodder]

..... the crowds pushing in on the riders....

Now that is what really agravates me!

 

[Brandane]

Well I thought I would give it a try, and started to watch the ITV coverage on Sunday morning. I just found myself getting wound up by those moronic people trying to get themselves on TV by standing out on the road and only allowing a very narrow path for the leader to get through. Had I been the leader I would have been tempted to tell them all to get out of my f****ng way!! After half an hour of watching, it all got very boring. It was that bad, I changed over to the British F1 Grand Prix.. After the crash at the start, it too was boring, so over to Wimbledon for the mens final. Now that was quite good, surprisingly!

 

[vernon]

I gather Brian Robinson hasn't made the team, yet again......such a shame.

I heard him recounting that of Holme Moss takes six minutes to conquer and contrasting it with the sixty minute climbs in the alps. He's clearly unaware of my sixty minute climb of Holme Moss and my two and a half day ascent of Ventoux.

 

[vernon]

I like to watch it for the scenery, I get to see places that I otherwise wouldn't. Simples.

It was an odd sensation watching the Tour with riders that I welcomed from three rows back from the stage at the Leeds reception event using roads that I have used routinely on my bike over the past decade giving a totally different perspective on the scenery that I have pedalled through.

Its was especially galling to see the riders sweatlessly breeze up climbs that had me seeking defibrillators, an oxygen mask and industrial quantities of EPO.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Can't say I'm much bothered about cycle racing these days. I watch the TdF for the scenery and some of the big mountain climbing antics. Flat stages and time trials are like watching paint dry.

Track Racing is rather more spectator friendly. Have a visit to the Ghent 6 day. Great fun if you don't do it tooooo often. My last visit was ~15 yrs ago. Might think about going again sometime.